266 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
and consider them the earliest and largest plum in the state. Peach trees 
are well set with fruit and came through the winter in excellent shape. Red 
and black raspberries promise a good crop, although not as heavy as last 
season. Minnesota can certainly make a fine showing at our state fair this 
fall in the way of fine fruit. 
LA CRESCENT TRIAL STATION. 
J. S. HARRIS, SUPT. 
I began the planting of apple, pear and plum trees and grape vines on my 
present place in the spring of 1857 and soon after began to add strawberries, 
raspberries and blackberries to the plantings, and every spring in the fol- 
lowing forty-three years I have planted more or less of these fruits and 
from the first have made it an experimental work, giving every reasonably 
promising variety that I could get hold of, whether American, Russian or 
newer seedlings, a fair and impartial trial, and am continuing to do so. 
Thousands of trees and hundreds of varieties have been planted with the sole 
view of finding some that were adapted to our climate and that could be 
planted by those who come after us with a certainty of success. 
The last winter was a comparatively mild one, and, although the soil was 
very dry at the beginning, a heavy snowfall occurred before frost had pene- 
trated to any considerable depth and afforded ample protection to the roots 
of-trees and plants, and the cold was not intense enough to injure the tops 
of any reasonably hardy varieties. Blackberries without any protection ex- 
cept the snow came through without any injury and are now promising the 
best crop for many years. Red raspberries did not come through quite 
as well as in the previous extremely cold winter. This is probably owing” 
partly to the roots being weakened by the long drouth that prevailed in 
the fall and the buds starting again in October. Our first killing frost 
caught them unprepared, and a great many of tle canes died down to the 
roots. Apple trees bloomed more heavily than usual and gave early promise 
of an extraordinary crop, but present indications are that it will be con- 
siderably below that of ’98. They are dropping off badly, and especially so 
on varieties that had been injured in the winter of 1898-0. This will prove 
better for the trees, as a full crop would probably end their existence, while 
not fruiting heavily they have time to recover and become quite vigorous. 
I will give more of a detail of varieties in the fall report, but for the benefit 
of those who will order trees this fall will say that I do not think that the 
Walbridge, McMahon White. Giant Swaar and Ben Davis are worthy of 
any further trial. There are also a considerable number of the Russians 
that are unworthy of being given any further trial, either from tenderness 
of tree, blighting propensity or unfruitfulness. After taking out the leading 
members of the Duchess, or Oldenburg, family, the Charlamof, Longfield, 
Ostrekoff, Anisim, Antonovka, Hibernal and for very extreme locations 
some of the Anis family, it is a waste of time to plant and care for them in 
any locality where the Wealthy and Patten’s Greening will succeed. 
Our strawberries have produced much below a full crop. The cause, we 
believe to be partly the drouth of last autumn and its repetition this spring. 
The varieties doing the best are the Bederwood, Brandywine, Splendid, 
Clyde, Glen Mary, Ridgeway, Ruby, Seaford and Warfield. Currants are not 
producing a very heavy crop. Among the newer varieties, the Pomona, 
